Ministers ready to block foreign criminals using family rights to dodge justice

A number of senior ministers are ready to back calls for changes in the law
which could prevent foreign criminals from claiming the right to a family
life to avoid being deported, it can be revealed.

Image 1 of 2

Asim Parris and Naomi Chambers after their daughter’s birth in June 2007. She left him weeks later over his violence towards her

Image 1 of 2

Andrew Symeou, L, suffered a two-year ordeal in which he was arrested, extradited to Greece and put in prison awaiting trial on charges of killing a British holidaymaker despite courts in this country never being able to assess if there was evidence against himPhoto: PANOS

The Home Office this weekend confirmed it was to launch a consultation on the "family route" used by around one fifth of immigrants from outside the European Union to get into Britain every year - a total of 49,000.

Campaigners for change say the consultation was likely to become more wide ranging - and could pave the way for moves to remove the contentious "right to respect for private and family life", enshrined in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), from the two pieces of British legislation in which it appears.

The full story of how a serial criminal with convictions for violence and drug-dealing beat deportation by claiming his relationship with his young daughter would be violated by being sent to his home country, can also be disclosed.

In fact, the mother of the child - whom the criminal had split from and assaulted - said he had shown little interest in fatherhood and never paid maintenance.

The case illustrates how foreigners the Government wants to expel are able to stay using the ECHR.

In stark contrast a different set of European laws - the European Arrest Warrant - mean British citizens can be arrested simply on the word of a foreign government and sent for trial abroad without any examination of whether there is a case against them.

The Sunday Telegraph is campaigning for British citizens to be given protection from automatic extradition on flimsy or even non-existent evidence.

Today Andrew Symeou spoke of the two-year ordeal in which he was arrested, extradited to Greece and put in prison awaiting trial on charges of killing a British holidaymaker despite courts in this country never being able to assess if there was evidence against him. On Friday he was cleared when prosecutors declared him to be innocent.

Changes to the human rights legislation are being backed in principle by Theresa May, the Home Secretary, as well as two other Conservative ministers in her department, Nick Herbert, the Police Minister, and Damian Green, the Immigration Minister, Tory sources said.

They are said to be joined by other Tory ministers including Chris Grayling, the Employment Minister. One party source claimed even Kenneth Clarke, the liberal-leaning Conservative Justice Secretary, might be "persuadable."

The Sunday Telegraph has called on David Cameron as a first step, to review the British laws which cite Article 8 of the ECHR – the 1998 Human Rights Act and the 2007 UK Borders Act – with a view to removing the family life defence.